What are “lapped cars” in F1 and what does it mean when its said “they are allowed to unlap”?

Question

I’m trying to understand what exactly happened in the Abu Dabi F1 2021 Drama, but as someone very new to racing I don’t seem to understand what exactly happened. I keep hearing lapped cars were allowed to unlap, but as someone who hasn’t seen that match or any for that matter, I don’t exactly know what that means.

In: Other

Answer 1

I highly recommend you watch Chainbear’s YouTube video on Abu Dhabi to learn out exactly what went down.